I admittedly lived in New Orleans before the modern generation of "celebrity chef" restaurants really got going. K-Paul's had just opened. So most of the best restaurants were all cut from a somewhat similar high creole cloth. But Antoine's was always right near the top of my favorites--though I haven't been there for years.

The way things worked back then was they tended to stick the tourists in the front room but if you knew one or more of the waiters by name they'd give you one of their tables in the back.